Occasionally the algo's cock up and you can see how manipulated the markets are. This just now from CXA. How can this equate to 'best possible price' for the seller? A little nip here, a little tuck there, and the manipulators accumulate huge amounts of profit each year from investors.
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So ... the price was ranging between $2.09 and $2.10 and then CXA transact a swag at $2.04. This by-passed the obvious buyer stack (left) and resulted in (i) the seller not getting the best price, and (ii) the stacked buyers missing on on the available shares. 1 second later, via the ASX, the SP was back within the $2.09 - $2.10 range ...
This single trade benefited one party by +$2,000 to the detriment of the other party (45k shares @ 5c). Multiply this millions of times per annum and you can see the potential profit from this manipulation.
The book "Flash Boys" fingers the CXA as a tool of the HFT firms. Why the ASIC allowed CXA into the Australian equity markets is beyond me. Credibility continues to be eroded in markets IMO.
Cheers
John
(20min delay)